[Build of the week S4E8] Havrd's Burning Arrow Marauder [Bloodlines][1.3]

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godace wrote:

im doing this build. so, will doryani's invitation work with leech? which is better between doryani's and a rare?

And for hardcore leagues what should i get next from lv90? soul of steel vs. holy fire vs. forces of nature?

Leech does not work woth traps. So a rare belt is the definitive answer.

What to get next depends alot on what gear you have at the moment, here are some examples:

If you dont have a Carcass Jack -> Get the witch AoE nodes

If you have no flat fire/phys damage on your jewlery or gloves -> Probably holy fire... I just really dislike this node, it is more efficient than Forces of Nature though.. You can also get Catalyze aswell i guess.. But having Flat damage on your jewlery and such makes it so your damage should be more than sufficient!

If you dont have the best Armour/eva gear -> Soul of steel

If you dont have armound 5,2k HP -> Unrelenting

It all really depends what youre lacking.

If you have followed my build up to this point i would personally go for Soul of steel and more hp = Unrelenting. Getting the Witch AoE would be pretty sweet though.

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Cyzax wrote:

I'm levelling up the character still (currently at L56) using Flame Blast, and is finding that this combination helps a lot keeping things still for Flame Blast.

I keep the Conversion Trap at L1 since keeping the duration down makes things easier.

The worst problem using Flame Blast was killing Cruel Piety... She runs around all the time, meaning hitting her with a decent Flame Blast is very hit and miss. The above combination didn't help there as there are few/no other monsters.

Nice to see that you have some input on the leveling of this build, alot of people (me included) dislike Flameblast for reasons like this.

Finally got to L62 :-)

Current gear:


I have a question though... Sometimes I throw a trap... and nothing happens...

Is that because the 'attack' was evaded or blocked? If the first, I was thinking whether Resolute Technique may be an option???

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Cyzax wrote:

Finally got to L62 :-)

Current gear:

Spoiler

Apart from Mokou's, all self-found :-)

Also have this I can use, but I don't see any real need right now:

I have a question though... Sometimes I throw a trap... and nothing happens...

Is that because the 'attack' was evaded or blocked? If the first, I was thinking whether Resolute Technique may be an option???

You really need resolute tecnique! Just because of things like this. Im pretty sure i showed it in my skilltree, might have missed it. It is in the Build of the week video though.
Youre attacks can also be blocked by guys with sheilds.

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Havrd wrote:

You really need resolute tecnique! Just because of things like this. Im pretty sure i showed it in my skilltree, might have missed it. It is in the Build of the week video though.
Youre attacks can also be blocked by guys with sheilds.

Must've looked at the same skill tree (the L62) one twice...

I still need to find a few better items for my above build, but the large amount of uniques bites into the space for +resist/+stats/+life... This was just what I could fit together to give max. resist. and enough DEX/INT.

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Cyzax wrote:

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Havrd wrote:

You really need resolute tecnique! Just because of things like this. Im pretty sure i showed it in my skilltree, might have missed it. It is in the Build of the week video though.
Youre attacks can also be blocked by guys with sheilds.

Must've looked at the same skill tree (the L62) one twice...

I still need to find a few better items for my above build, but the large amount of uniques bites into the space for +resist/+stats/+life... This was just what I could fit together to give max. resist. and enough DEX/INT.

This is exactly why you want to get a 5L ASAP so you can drop those deerstalkers, right now they are doing their job very well. But later not having overcapped resistances is going to get you.

Boots can roll DEX aswell, thats where i get alot of my dex from.

Bloodlines char:


Beyond char:



Are you playing on Standard? i can sell you a 5L. Would just need to rip one of them into SC :3

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Havrd wrote:

This is exactly why you want to get a 5L ASAP so you can drop those deerstalkers, right now they are doing their job very well. But later not having overcapped resistances is going to get you.

Boots can roll DEX aswell, thats where i get alot of my dex from.

Bloodlines char:

Beyond char:

Are you playing on Standard? i can sell you a 5L. Would just need to rip one of them into SC :3

I am playing standard... I've tried to 5L the bow, but ran out of fusings :-p
Since my resists are capped, and I got the stats I need, I'm not too fussed. I was more thinking of needing more damage, life and armour later.

How much were you thinking of for one of those bows (especially the middle one as it is more flexible)?

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Cyzax wrote:

How much were you thinking of for one of those bows (especially the middle one as it is more flexible)?

No idea, they are the remnants of Beyond and Bloodlines. The one with two white ones i might need for testing when the new tree comes.

Thanks for the help, Havrd :-)

I've now updated my equipment a bit... and is now at L69.

I plan to get out of those boots later, but at the moment they (plus Flammability) gives me 99% chance to ignite using the normal flame arrow.

Current Skill Tree:

Still feels a bit squishy, but I want the top Ignite nodes before going for more HP.

Tooltip DPS (with Anger):
Burning Arrow: 2460
Vaal Burning Arrow: 2999

Levelling experience

Since I've just levelled a character to L73 with this build, I thought I'd give my input to how the build works, and how I did my levelling up to L62 (and further).

Havrd's guide is spot on, and if you follow that you'll not go much wrong. I did start with an unspec'ed L32 character, so can't say what to do before that.

One thing I will mention (as did Havrd) is that Flame Blast will not suit everyone. It is powerful, but require quite a bit of practice to use well. It can be quite frustrating at times against fast enemies, especially Piety towards the end of Act 3.
When you miss with one huge blast, you'll be low on mana. I found that I needed 2-3 mana flasks to keep it up, leaving not much space for others. It wasn't a problem as such, but worth mentioning.

As I've already mentioned before in a previous reply, this combination of gems helped me a lot keeping monsters occupied while charging the blast:

Don't level the Conversion Trap gem as you'd want the duration to be as short as possible. Once you get to Burning Arrow trapping, ditch this. You'll not have the gem slots, and will want to use your active trap number for the Burning Arrow traps.

Also, use Molten Shell offensively while levelling! Cast it, walk in among the hostiles, let them hit you, and wait for the shell to explode. This will help a lot, and at this stage you'll be tanky enough to do it.

An item I'd like to mention is this:

I've used it for the extra ignite chance while I was still levelling my Flammability gem, and while working towards Breath of Flames on the skill tree. Once there, they can be ditched though I haven't bothered to do so yet as they still helps with Vaal Burning Arrow where I use Increased Burning Damage instead of Chance to Ignite.
(Ignore the Chance to Ignite gem in the boots. It is just there for levelling.)

Once you start Burning Arrow trapping, you don't need much mana. Running Grace and Anger, I have 46 mana left unreserved (Reduced Mana is at L17). This is enough.
Flammability, Molten Shell and Ice Nova (for breaking jars etc.) is linked to Blood Magic so use life. This is not noticeable.

As said in the guide, this build is very feasible with just Deerstalkers and a 4L. I was well into mapping when I switched to 5L's.

After reaching L62 and started using the Burning Arrow trap, I chose to allocated skill points like this:
Resolute Technique
Unwavering Stance/Iron Reflexes
Golem's Blood
Breath of Flames
I should have taken Unwavering Stance/Iron Reflexes earlier, but hadn't the points at the time. Resolute Technique is IMHO more important at this stage.

That is where I am now. From here, my plan is:
Cruel Preparation
Other remaining health nodes (I have a couple scattered here and there)
Heart of Flame

I'll finish with this...
In addition to being very powerful, this build is FUN!
To quote from Batman... "Some people just want to watch the world burn!"... and you will!

To illustrate how effective it is, this is the only build I've yet tried where I can confidently take on Dungeon map Brutus (Penitentiary Incarcerator). 1-2 Vaal Arrow Traps, and he's toast.
Another very fun map is Zena's Fractured Bandit one. The fractured bandits just melt, leaving you with heaps of bodies all over. Fractured maps are usually tedious, but with this build, they're not.

Just my $0.02 :-)